Gravity meter



'such that the force exerted Patented Sept. 4, 1945 GRAVITY METE R Reginald C. Sweet, olind Oil and Tulsa, kla.., assignor to Stan- Gas Company, corporation of Dclaware 'i'ulsa, om., a

Application December 29, 1943, Serial No. saoss 9 Claims. (Ci. 734s2) The present invention relates to meters for determining difl'erences in gravity between each of a plurality of spaced locations in an area. These meters are commcnly called gravity meters and consist essentially of a gravity-responsive means or mass. The mass is elastically suspended in such a way that variations in the gravitational force from point to point on the earth's surface will cause it to be pulled downwardly to a greater or a lesser degree. Gravity meters are adapted to measure difierences in the force 4 exerted on the mass whereby valuableinformation regarding the subsurface strata can be deduced. such information is highly valuable in prospecting for underground deposits, such as oil and certain minerals,

The object of the present invention is to provide a gravity meter capable of extremely delicate measurements, which meter is not only simpie in construction and economical to build but very small differences in gravity.

The invention will be described in detail with reference to the'accompanying drawing in which Figure 1 illustrates in elevation a gravity meter according to the present invention, and

Figure 2 illustrates a According to Figure 1 a. gravity responsive means or mass o is supported approxiniately at its center of gravity by a, main resilient means or spring l I which is secured at its upper end to an elastic support member, such as a stifl leaf spring I2.- spring ll is a zero-length spring, that is, it is wound in a pre-tensloned manner by the spring is always substantially directly proportional to the length of the spring. Since the main spring is arranged at an angle to the vertical, which is preferably about 45, thin non-extensible ligatures !3 are provided at the end of the mass c for preventing lateral movement of the mass with respect to a support M. Although the fllaments |3 will permit vertical movement of the mass 'it will normally remain in a substantially horizontal position since it is supported at its center .oi gravity. The elastic support member or leaf spring !2 is rigidly secured at one end !5 to the support M. The main resilient means or spring Il is secured to the opposite end of leaf spring !2 and is arranged at an angle thereto. A connecter I 6 which preferably consists of a ligature is attached to the elastic support member !2 near the point of attachment of the main resilient means l l. The othe-end of said connecter IS.

modification of a portion i of the gravity meter shown in Figure 1.

is attached to a bell crank lever t'i or the like which is supported on a transverse torsion fiber IB. The connecter IS is arranged to run approximately parallel to the axis of the main spring 'i i. A. calibrated micro adjustment screw I`9 is provided, the lower end of which is connected through a ball and socket joint 20 to a sliding is also easy to operate and capable of detecting member 2l .which is slidably mounted within a slot 22 of the support N to prevent rotation of the socket. The sliding member 2| is connected to one end of a reading spring 23 while the other end is secured to the bell crank lever IT. The mass o is provided With an extension 24 having anindicator mark' such as a hair line i thereon. A telescope arrangement for viewing the indicator mark is 'provided and consists of a scaled micrometer eye piece 25, a prism 26 and' a microscope objective lens 21. By looking through the eye piece one is able to determine the exact position of the 'mass for the purpose of manipulating the calibrated micro adjustment screw s.

The gravity meter as shown in the drawing is I usually mounted in a closed case which is maintained at a uniformtemperature, by means which are well known in the art, in order to prevent introducing various errors into the measurements due to changes in temperature. In using the gravity meter, according to the present invention, to determine diflerences in gravity from one point to another, it is necessary to place the gravity meter in a true horizontal position. If the mass is not in its null position, thereby indicating that there is a difference in the'gravity between the present location of the instrument and that location at which the last reading was taken, it will be necessaryto turn the calibrated micro adjustment screw I! so that the connecter IS will vary the position oi the elastic support member |2. When the elastic "support member |2 is moved or flexed the posi- -through the eye piece 25 tion of mass o will 'be altered. By looking one can dete'mine when the mass o has been returned to its null position and the amount of force necessary to accomplish this adjustment may be determined from the calibrated micro adjustment screw s. It has 'been found that the particular arrangement of springs and ligatures enables one to ob tain a very fine reading of difl'erences in gravity and that errors due to friction between moving parts of the device have been reduced to a i minimum.

In Figura 2 the elastic support member comprises atorsion fiber mounting in place of the I 'bar 2! is securely fixed responsive me'ans at su meansata micro adiustment means mounted leaf spring I 2. According to Figure 2 a lever or to a torsion fiber 29. The main spring II is secured to one end oi the bar 20 whereas the connecter IS is secured tothe other end of said har. According -to this modification the operation oi the calibrated micro adiustment screw i! is the reverse of that shown in Flgure 1, since a reduction in tension of the connecter ligature iS will result in a reduction in tension of the main spring il,

while' in Figure `1 a reduction in tension of the connecter ligature se results in an increased tension in the main spring li.

It is clear that various mechanical modificabe replaced by any other type of lever serving the same purpose.

Having now described my invention what I claim is: 1. A gravity meter comprising a support, gravity-responsive means, an elastic support member tor supporting said gravity-responsive means, `a resilient means connecting said gravity-responsive means to said elastic support member, a micro-adiustment means mounted on said support, a second resilient means 'interconnecting said elastic support means and said micro-adjustment means, whereby determinable micro-adjustments in the position of said gravity-responsive means are obtained, and means for determining the position of said gravity-responsive means 2. A gravity meter comprising a support, an

eiastic support member attached to said support,

a gravity-res'ponsive means, resilient means connected at one end 'to said gravity-responsive means a't substantially the center ot gravity of said 'gravity-responsive' means and at the other end to said elastic support member at a point removed from the point' of attachment of said elas-' tic support member to said support, a second resilient' means connected at one end to sai d 'elastic support member at a point removed from the point of attachment'ot said elastic support member to said support, micro-adjustment means con 'nected to the other end of said second resilient means tor making determinabie minor adjustments in the position oi said elastic support member through said second resilient means, and means for determining the( position of said gravity-responsive means.

' 3. A gravity meter as claimed in' claim in said elasticsupport member comprises a flexable leat spring..

4.' A gravity meter as claimed in claim 2 wherein the elastic support means comprises a bar pivotally supported on a-torsion ilber.

5. A gravity meter comprising a support, flexible support means attached at' one end to said support, gravity-responsive means, a main resilient means atta'ched at one end to said gravitybstantially the center oi' gravity thei-eo! and at its other .end to the free end of said ilex'ible support means, a linkage 2 whereport, a reading spring connected at one end to said linkage mechanism and at the other end to said calibrated micro adjustment means, means for preventing rotational movement of said reading spring, and means for determining the position of said gravity-responsive means.

6. A gravity meter comprising a support, a flexible leaf spring attached at one end to said support, gravity-responsive means disposed in a substantially horizontal position,` a main resilient V means connected at one end to said gravity-responsive means at substantially the center of. gravity of said gravity-respnsive means and at the other end to the free end of said fiexible leaf spring, said main resilient means forming an angle of about 45 with said gravity-responsive means, means connecting one end of said gravityresponsive means to said support for preventing iateral movement of said gravity-responsive means, a torsion fiber mounted on said support, a lever mounted on said fiber, a connecting ligature attached at oneend to said flexible leaf spring at a point removed from the point of attachment of said spring to said support, the

other end of said connecting ligature being attached to one arm of said lever, a reading spring attached to the other arm of said lever, means for applying small determin'able forces to the. other end of said reading spring and means for determining the position of said gravity-responsive means upon application of force to said reading spring.

, 7. A gravity meter comprising a support, a flexible leaf spring attached at one end to said support, a gravity-responsive mass disposed in a substantially horizontal position, a main spring extending upwardly from said mass at an angle of about 45 thereto, said main spring being attached at its lower end to said gravity-responsive mass at substantially the center of gravity of said mass and at its upper end to the free end of said fiexible leaf spring, at least two thin non-extensible laments connected to one endof said mass I and to said support for preventing lateral movement of said mass, a bell crank lever pivotally mounted on said support, a ligature connected at its upper end to said flexible leaf spring at a point near the point of attachment of the main spring thereto and at the lower end to one arm of said bell crank lever, said main spring and said ligature 'for'ning substantially right angles with saidflexible leaf spring, a calibrated micro adiustment screw mounted on said support, a nonrotatable follower disposed at the lower end of sai'd micro adiustment screw, a reading spring extending between and connected to said follower and the other arm of said bell crank lever, a hair line on said mass; a telescope having a microm- -4 eter scale therein for use in combination with mechanism connected to said flexible support resilient means thereto, calibrated said hair line, whereby said mass may be placed at a determinable position upon proper adjustm'ent of' said calibrated micro adjustment screw 8.' A gravity meter comprising a support, a torsion fibermounted on said'support, a bar member mounted on said torsion fiber. gravity-responsive means', a main re'silient meansattached at one end to said gravity-responsive means .at substantialiy the center of gravity of said gravity--esponsive means and at its other end to one end of said bar member, a !ever pivotally mounted on said support. a. ligature connected at one end to the upper end of said bar member and at the lower end to one arm of said lever, calibrated micro adiustment means mounted on said support, a reading spring connected between the other arm o! said lever and 'said calibrated micro adjustment means, whereby by adjustment of said calibrated micro adjustment means said gravity-responslve means may be placed in a determinableposition, and means for preventing rotational movement of said reading spring. r v

9. A gravity meter comprising a support, a torsion fiber mounted on said support, a bar member mounted on said torsion fiber, a gravity-responsive means disposed in a substantially horizontal position, a main resilient means connected at one end at substantially the center of gravity of said gravity-responsive means and at the other end to the first end of said bar member, said main resilient means forming an angle of about 45 With said gravity-responsive means, at least two thin non-extensible fllaments connected` to one end of said gravity-responsive means and to 'said support for preventingvlateral movement of said gravity responsive' means, a bell 'crank lever* plvotally mounted on said support, a llgatsre connected at its upper end to the second end of said bar member and at' the lower end to one arm of said bell crank lever, said main resilient means and said ligature forming substantially right angles with said bar member, a calibrated micro 4 adjustment screw mount'ed on said support, a non-rotatable follower mounted at the lower end of said micro adjustment screw, a reading"springof said 

